Thousands gathered in Brisbane and joined tens of thousands around the country, to stand up for women’s rights,

call out sexism and misogyny and demand an end to sexual violence, not just in the Australian Parliament, but everywhere.

Grace Tame

Oh my goodness.

She suffered unthinkable abuse at the hands of a serial paedophile while at school. She suffered unspeakably. She stands among us now and calls us to action, to move beyond awkward silence and speak of the secret and destructive arts of grooming, for if we do not, we give perpetrators their power. She also makes a very clear call to action: we must share a clear understanding of the parameters of consent.

Listen to Grace. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJmwOTfjn9U

Close your eyes and listen to the beauty she speaks and it will lead you to the truth of things. And what might that be?

  • A person is not the object of a middle aged man’s wicked infatuations.
  • A person is not a vessel to be discarded, left to be filled with equal parts of shame and anger.

Somewhere within Grace the knowledge emerged that she is worthy of her name, worthy of respect, and worthy to be an agent, free to act on her own, free to live and tell her story.

See in Grace Tame the truth that lives in her and the witness she bears to the power, dignity, grace that comes through someone living their truth. No storm will blow her off course.

Here below are some helpful tools regarding consent and healthy relationships (thank you Heather Bryce, ASC Child Safety Advocate).

Sexual Consent Toolkit: Recently released QLD based tool by Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy – RASARA (funded by Qld Government and reflective of laws as at 31/1/2021) https://rasara.org/consent-toolkit-home

WA guide for parents talking to their children about sex: https://healthywa.wa.gov.au/-/media/HWA/Documents/Healthy-living/Sexual-health/talk-soon-talk-often.pdf

 

Simple and introductory tools also include the following:

FRIES framework for consent: https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/relationships/sexual-consent (Note: US based site)

Consent compared to a cup of tea (UK resoucre): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGoWLWS4-kU&t=3s

True Relationships (Qld): https://www.true.org.au/Education/allschool

Tasmanian Dept of Education, Respectful relationships resource package:

https://respectfulrelationships.education.tas.gov.au/about/

The stories of abuse are horrible. The courage and dignity of those who shared them is amazing. The problem will not be solved by ‘fixing’ consent, and certainly not with an ‘app’! Melinda Tankard Reist points to how deep this runs and how thorough the solution will need to be, for the problem runs up against an industry and culture that includes pornography:

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/consent-education-does-not-stand-a-chance-against-pornography/13231364